APPRENTICESHIPS AND GENDER: JUST THE STATISTICS
Gender patterns of participation in Apprenticeships in England
LYNN GAMBIN AND TERENCE HOGARTH
26 NOVEMBER 2015
The gender pay gap, though it has declined since the 1990s, is persistent. Differences between men and women in their
labour market outcomes, including pay, can reflect a number of factors. We consider gender differences in
participation in Apprenticeships in England to aid in understanding the potential effect that this type of educational
investment can have on observed differences in labour market outcomes between women and men.
play an important role in determining at least the
early labour market experiences of young women
and men.
Important here is the role of
Apprenticeships. Apprenticeships are associated
with relatively good labour market outcomes with
respect to employment and earnings. iii
Considering how participation in Apprenticeships
varies between men and women can potentially
further our understanding of gender differences in
labour market outcomes more widely.
INTRODUCTION
The overall gender pay gap in the UK was around
19 per cent in 2014.i There are many reasons for
the gender pay gap’s existence, and its
persistence, including, potential discrimination
and individual choices about labour market
participation and patterns of work.
One
contributing factor is the relatively high
concentration of women in occupations that pay
relatively less than those in which men are more
commonly represented. Why this should be the
case is the subject of much analysisii but is outside
the scope of this briefing note. It is, however,
worth noting that the reasons some occupations
are considered to be of high status, attracting high
rewards, and others not, may well result from
factors other than the intrinsic skill levels - and
relative scarcity of those skills – required of their
incumbents.
PARTICIPATION IN APPRENTICESHIPS BY
GENDER
Figure 1 shows that overall, participation levels in
Apprenticeships differ little between men and
women. Moreover, if one looks at participation by
level of Apprenticeship there is not a great
difference between men and women. As Figure 2
shows, over time, women have increasingly
accounted for the number of starts in Advanced
Apprenticeships (i.e. at Level 3). In 2013/14 over
50 per cent of starts at Level 3 were by women.
Apprenticeships, it would seem, are slightly more
likely to be taken up by women, more so at Level
3 where the economic returns are relatively high.
In looking at the factors that lead men and women
into different jobs, it is important to consider the
role played by initial vocational education and
training. Indubitably, the choices made in the
education system about which subjects to study
Number of Apprenticeship starts
Figure 1: Trend in Apprenticeship starts by gender
300,000
Women
250,000
Men
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
Source: FE Data Library Starts by Gender
1
Figure 2: Percentage of Apprenticeship starts at Levels 2 and 3 accounted for by women
70%
Level 2
Level 3
60%
% women
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Source: FE Data Library Starts by Gender and Level
In policy terms, a distinction is made between
those aged 16-18 years, those aged 19-24 years,
and those aged 25 years and over. Increasingly,
the 16 -18 groups is seen as part of the compulsory
education and training system. The 19-24 group is
also seen as an essential part of the initial
vocational education and training system that
without Government support may be subject to
market failures of one kind or another. For those
aged 25 years and over the role of the State in
funding this type of training is much less evident.
Figure 3 demonstrates that whilst the composition
of the respective 16-18 and 19-24 year old cohorts
comprise more or less equal shares of men and
women, this is not the case in relation to the over
24 year old group that is more likely to comprise
women (in 2012/13, women accounted for 61 per
cent of starts by over 24 year old group).
Figure 3: Age profile of women’s participation in Apprenticeships
women as % of age group
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
Under 19
19-24
25+
30%
20%
Source: FE Data Library Starts by Gender and Age
Table 1 shows the age distribution of
Apprenticeship starts separately for men and
women in 2002/03 and 2012/13. As the number
of Apprenticeship starts amongst the over 24s
increased, this has accounted for a relatively high
share of all Apprenticeship starts. But it is notable
that this age group is particularly important for
women, accounting for just over half (51 per cent)
of starts amongst women in 2012/13 compared
with 39 per cent amongst men. This suggests,
other things being equal, policies that affect the
participation of older age groups in
Apprenticeships will have an impact on gender
balance. It has been evident that the direction of
policy over recent years has been to concentrate
State funding on those aged under 25 years.
2
Table 1: Distribution of apprenticeship starts by age group and gender
2002/3
2012/13
Age Group
women
men
women
men
Under 19 years
53%
63%
19%
27%
19-24 years
47%
37%
31%
34%
25 years +
0%
0%
51%
39%
Source: FE Data Library Starts by Gender and Age
very different from even the same level within,
say, retail / commercial enterprise. Certainly, the
returns to the learner would be very different
depending on the area studied.v
PARTICIPATION BY SUBJECT AREA
It is misleading to think of Apprenticeships as a
homogeneous programme of training. In a 2011
study iv considering the options for evaluating
Apprenticeships, we pointed out that the
differences in the content and structure of training
varied so much by subject of study that like was
only being compared with like. A Level 3
Apprenticeship in construction, for example, was
Table 2 shows the top 10 frameworks (by starts)
for women and men respectively in 2013/14.
There are some commonalities between the lists
for women and men. But it is the differences that
are perhaps most striking.
Table 2: Top 10 Apprenticeship subject starts by gender in 2013/14
Women
Estimated
full-time
annual
salary
£18,000
1
Construction Skills
Men
Estimated
full-time
annual
salary
£26,000
1
Health and Social Care
2
£21,000
2
Engineering
£30,000
£17,000
3
Hospitality and Catering
£19,000
4
Business Administration
Children's Care Learning and
Development
Management
4
Customer Service
£15,000
5
Customer Service
£15,000
5
Management
6
Hospitality and Catering
£19,000
6
Business Administration
£21,000
7
Hairdressing
£14,000
7
Industrial Applications
£25,000
8
Retail
£15,000
8
Health and Social Care
£18,000
£28,000
9
IT and Telecoms Professionals
£28,000
£16,000
10 Vehicle Maintenance and Repair
3
9
Accountancy
Supporting teaching and learning in
10
schools
£26,000
Source: FE Data Library Starts by Gender and Subject Area; ASHE occupational wage data – SOC 4-digit
In order to demonstrate the importance of looking
at the subject in which an Apprenticeship is
undertaken a value is also provided for the fulltime annual wage for an occupation to which the
Apprenticeship might grant entry which can
reflect - admittedly in a rough and ready way - the
likely returns associated with those subjects. In
practice, completion of an Apprenticeship could
lead to employment in a wide variety of
occupations because of the generic skills it confers
upon apprentices. But, if one is willing to accept
that completion of an Apprenticeship in, say
construction, is more likely to lead to employment
in an occupation that is not, in this case, a million
miles away from something to do with the built
environment, then Table 2 provides some
thought-provoking results. In short, the results
suggest that women are more likely to be working
towards completion of an Apprenticeship
associated with occupations with relatively low
wage rates.
3
associated with working in traditionally male
dominated SET occupations. But there is a need
to keep highlighting the unequal outcomes that
arise, otherwise there is little prospect of
progress.
CONCLUSION
Overall, the statistics provided above reveal that
participation by women and men in
Apprenticeships is more or less evenly balanced.
But, if you look under the surface, there are
substantial differences, including: (a) participation
by women is more dependent upon older age
groups where existing skills are more likely to be
accredited than leading to the acquisition of new
skills; and (b) women are more likely to participate
in Apprenticeships associated with relatively low
wage rate occupations. These patterns are not
necessarily the fault of an Apprenticeship system
where policy makers have worked hard to ensure
that it is an equal opportunities one. One needs to
look at what goes on prior to an individual’s entry
to an Apprenticeship. This is hardly a problem
unique to Apprenticeships.
There has, for
instance, been a long running campaign to
persuade more young women to study science,
engineering and technology (SET) subjects at all
levels given the relatively high wage returns
Ensuring more equal representation of women in
those Apprenticeships likely to lead to better paid
jobs requires making certain sectors, and job roles
within them, attractive to both men and women.
At the same time, there is a need to ensure that
labour market information is available to wouldbe apprentices, both men and women, about the
relative wage returns associated with not just
completing an Apprenticeship, but the particular
Apprenticeships that yield the better returns.
There needs to be a mix of pull factors (ensuring
that jobs are equally attractive to men and
women) and push factors (ensuring that men and
women are fully aware of the returns available), in
place if there is be more equality of outcomes
associated with Apprenticeships.
REFERENCES
Altonji, J. and Blank, R. (1999). ‘Race and Gender in the labor market’, in Ashenfelter O. and Card D. (eds),
Handbook of Labor Economics, Volume 3C, North-Holland, Amsterdam.
BIS (2014). Further Education Learners: Average earnings post-study 2010/11 to 2012/13. London:
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
BIS (2015). Measuring the net present value of Further Education in England. BIS Research Paper Number
228. London: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Gambin L., Hasluck C., Hogarth T., Ryan P. and Elias P (2011). Options for the long-term evaluation of
Apprenticeships. BIS Research Report Number 56. London: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
UKCES (2015). Opportunities and outcomes in employment and work: gender effects, Research Briefing,
Wath-upon-Dearne: UK Commission for Employment and Skills.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Lynn.Gambin@warwick.ac.uk
 02476 150860
Terence.Hogarth@warwick.ac.uk  02476 524420
Research on Apprenticeships, training and skills:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ier/research/apprenticeships-training
i
See a recent study from UKCES outlining gender patterns in pay and other labour market outcomes.
For a discussion of the gender pay gap and occupational segregation see, for example, Altonji and Blank, 1999.
iii
See latest estimates provided BIS (2015)
iv
Gambin et al, 2011
v
BIS (2014) provides post-study earnings returns by level and subject
ii
4